Abstract: The competition attracted nearly 5,000 athletes and enthusiasts from 24 countries and regions around the world to participate in the competition, and experienced the classic characteristics and cultural charm of the central city of Shanghai in an all-round way.
At 7 o'clock in the morning of April 14, with the crisp sound of the starting gun, the first "roller skating + road running" integrated marathon in Asia started at the Bund Taurus Square, and the 4th Huangpu District Civic Games also kicked off at the same time.
With the theme of "Running for Love", the event consisted of four events: the International Roller Skating Marathon Tour (Shanghai Station), the China Roller Skating Marathon Open (Shanghai Station), the Shanghai Enterprise Quarter Marathon and the Huangpu Marathon Online Race, attracting nearly 5,000 athletes and enthusiasts from 24 countries and regions around the world. Starting from the Bund, the contestants walked through People's Square, Huaihai Middle Road, the site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the old town, and the Huangpu Riverside, and experienced the classic characteristics, cultural charm and beautiful environment of the central city of Shanghai in an all-round way.
Roller skaters check in at landmark buildings in Huangpu District during the competition. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Yan Xiaoyi
For the first time, roller skating and road running are combined
Share the same track
It is understood that the 2024 Huangpu Marathon is the first time in Asia that "roller skating" and "road running" events are integrated, and roller skating professionals and ordinary road runners participate in the event. The race was fired one after another, with roller skaters starting first, followed by road runners. The finish point of the full marathon and half marathon is located at No. 68 Longhua East Road, and the end point of the roller skating quarter and road run is at the World Expo Museum. From the start to the finish line, the two races share a track, and after the quarter-marathon finish, the roller skating full-marathon and half-marathon competitors compete in a large loop around the riverside area.
Roller skaters warm up in the preparation area. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Yan Xiaoyi
Among them, the International Roller Skating Marathon Tour (Shanghai Station) is a key event promoted by the World Roller Skating Federation this year, and it is also the first stop of the 6 global tours, with the highest prize money of 10,000 US dollars for the champion of the event group, and more than 400 Chinese and foreign professional roller skaters participated. The China Roller Skating Marathon Open (Shanghai Station) attracted nearly 1,000 roller skaters and enthusiasts from 26 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country, with the youngest age being 8 years old and the oldest being 78 years old.
Belgian speed skater Bart Swings leads the event. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Yan Xiaoyi
According to the Huangpu District Sports Bureau, Huangpu has a deep foundation in roller skating, and is the birthplace of Shanghai's "roller skating rink", which is a "one district, one product" project carefully built by Huangpu District in the past 40 years. Since 2003, Huangpu District has made great efforts to build a number of top international brands of roller skating, and at the same time gradually formed a complete closed loop of ecological development of the roller skating industry around the events.
In order to further create the best environment, Huangpu District is a road running event in the form of enterprise team participation, which is mainly aimed at the working people of the world's top 500 enterprises in China, well-known enterprises in the industry and well-known enterprises in Huangpu District. After the registration notice was issued, it received positive feedback from employees of various enterprises, and more than 3,600 runners from more than 500 companies were recruited to participate in a short period of time.
After the gun was fired, the runners started the process of the four-point race. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Yan Xiaoyi
The charity bazaar helps the development of sports
Each person guarantees sensitivity Huangpu "temperature"
During the competition, 26 public welfare market booths were set up at the Shanghai World Expo Museum (finish line), and 19 well-known corporate brands such as Under Armour, CCB Life Insurance, and Lao Fengxiang's brand China Pencil actively participated. The organizing committee will donate the proceeds from the fair to the Goluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province to help build public sports facilities, and hope to increase the public's attention and participation in public welfare undertakings through this activity.
Road runners bring their children to experience the charm of sports. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Yan Xiaoyi
In order to ensure the smooth progress of the competition, the organizing committee of the event has set up 5 designated hospitals, which are under the unified command of the scene. Medical stations and 5 first-aid points are set up at 7 points such as Jinniu Square, Henan Middle Road and Jiujiang Road, and 5 groups of AED first-aid points are set up on the track and equipped with corresponding first-aid personnel. A total of 5 supply points will be set up on the entire course. Since the marathon course is located on an urban road, some courses may have road surface subsidence and manhole covers. Relevant departments take cushions, place markers and other methods to make reminders to ensure the safety of participating athletes.
First responders treat wounds to injured athletes. Photo courtesy of the organizer
Behind the passion and fun of the contestants is the cooperation and hard work of all parties. The organizing committee recruited a total of 595 volunteers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and Shanghai University to provide volunteer services in different positions such as event registration, check-in, track layout, logistics reception, clothing storage and pick-up services, and completion bag distribution.
Women's roller skaters are guided by volunteers to get ready to start. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Yan Xiaoyi
Huangpu District said that it will fully rely on the marathon and the upcoming Paris Olympic Qualification Series to be held in Huangpu Binjiang to provide more abundant events for the public, continue to promote the extension of national fitness activities to the grassroots level, and enhance the enthusiasm of the masses to participate in sports. At the same time, it will focus on the sports event economy, actively explore new models of industrial integration and development, accelerate the in-depth integration of "business, tourism, culture and sports exhibitions", and help Shanghai build an "international sports event capital" and accelerate the construction of a "world-famous sports city".
The top photo shows roller skaters competing along the Huangpu Riverfront. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Yan Xiaoyi